The designer of two of Sir Thomas Liptons early Cup
challengers, as well as hundreds of other beautiful,
fast yachts, William Fife III (sometimes referred
to as William Fife, Jr.) was born into his trade in
his fathers and grandfathers shipyard in Fairlie,
Scotland. By the age of 30 he was designing and building
noted racing boats for clients who included many Americans
and Canadians. With G. L. Watson, Fife dominated the
design of large sailing yachts in Britain in the 1890s
before Watson turned his attention to the design of
steam yachts.

When Sir Thomas Lipton decided to challenge for the
Americas Cup in 1899, he chose Fife to draw the lines,
though, because Shamrock was metal, another builder
constructed her. Potentially fast, she was handicapped,
first, by having to be heavily built in order to survive
the Atlantic crossing and, second, by Fifes illness
at the time of the match. After Lipton came to him
again for the 1903 challenger, Fife designed the largest,
fastest, and most advanced racing boat then known,
Shamrock III. It turned out, however, that Nathanael
G. Herreshoff went a long stride farther in producing
Reliance.

In 1907 it looked, briefly, as if Fife would get
another chance at a Cup design, but Liptons negotiations
with the New York Yacht Club faltered. When they were
resumed in 1912, Charles E. Nicholson had become Britains
most prominent yacht designer, and, with Fifes help,
he designed Liptons last two Shamrocks.

Although not Americas Cup winners, Fifes Shamrocks
and his many other boats, set a standard of excellence
for the creation of able, fast boats of remarkable
beauty. Long celebrated as one of the best yacht designers
in history, his induction in the Americas Cup Hall
of Fame places his name on the list of the best designers
of Cup yachts.